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Sparks fly over hospital pledge
POLITICAL rivals have hit back at promises by the Conservative Party to save Hartlepool's hospital if their candidate is voted in and they win the General Election.
Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley pledged that the University Hospital of Hartlepool will not close if the party wins the national contest – and Alan Wright wins the town seat, as reported by the Mail yesterday.
Mr Wright also called for plans for a 420m state-of-the-art replacement at Wynyard to be put on hold until after the General Election.
But today Hartlepool MP Iain Wright has accused the Tories of "shameless opportunism", while UKIP candidate Steve Allison said they were actually promising "spending cuts".
What the political rivals have to say...
Iain Wright | Alan Wright | Reg Clark | Steve Allison
Liberal Democrat candidate Reg Clark said voters needed more than "emotional slogans".
The single site 660-bed hospital at Wynyard is planned to replace the University Hospital of Hartlepool and University Hospital of North Tees, in Stockton.
Plans to close the University Hospital of Hartlepool sparked outrage in 2003 and more than 30,000 people signed a Mail petition to stave off the threat.
On the eve of the Hartlepool by-election in 2004, Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair and Health Secretary John Reid said the hospital would never close.
In 2006 a review was ordered and a year later it was announced that the hospital would shut.
Health chiefs picked Wynyard Business Park, on the outskirts of town, as the site for the new hospital from a shortlist of 10 locations.
Despite the claims made by the Tories this week, health bosses insist a decision over funding for the new hospital will be finalised at the end of next month.
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Weather for Hartlepool
Monday 28 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 8 C to 15 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: East
